"Peter Duniho" writes:

Either a straight line between your
origin and destination will keep you out of restricted airspace, or it
won't.

Yes. (If we're calling the Great Circle path a "straight line.)
That's why I want it to be exact.

I don't know if this would realistically affect me or not. I've never
planned long trips without GC paths. I don't want to deal with the
inconsistency though.

It's something that matters to me. Am I going to have to think about
where I'm going around some airspace/mountain/...? Do I have to explain
my plans to Center?

That still doesn't explain why you are worried about the difference between
great-circle and a sectional straight line. You never have to explain your
planning to Center,

And yet I've been asked on more than one occasion. Is this one of those
Wubba-logic things where "never" means "5% of the time" and I'm just
supposed to forget my experiences, or by "never have to" are you just
meaning that you can not divulge the information and remain in compliance
with FAA regs (even though they'll probably drop you and call you names)?

--kyler